You may have noticed in the other Motus thread that I got my bike last Wednesday. I finally got to do a little riding the last couple of days.

The Motus now has 494 miles on it. These pics were taken yesterday afternoon at Lake Crockett, just north of Honey Grove, TX. It's about a hundred miles from my house, but only about 40 miles north of Commerce, TX where I went to college. I used to fish there a lot when I was living closer to it. Back then, there were lots of bass, crappie, and large bream in that lake. Great for fly fishing. Where the bike is sitting in these pics, it would have been on the front porch of the marina/restaurant/bait shop that was there 40+ years ago.

The bike has been running great. Very comfortable and no hiccups. I said after the demo ride that the Motus is the best bike I've ever been on, and so far nothing about it has changed my mind. The steering/handling is absolutely neutral with no tendency to fall into or stand up in a curve at all. Just rock solid all the way through. The weather has been nice the last couple days without much wind, so I don't really know how cross winds are going to affect it, but buffeting from semis barely moves it at all.

Shifting seems a little rough/sticky at times, but there seems to be a little bit of "technique/finesse" involved. Downshifts are smoother if you blip the throttle to match the revs even when you don't let the clutch out while doing it. Like going from second to first, I might not always use engine braking in first if I'm just easing up to a stop. But the shift is still smoother if you blip the throttle anyway with the clutch in. I know, it sounds like the clutch is dragging, but it isn't more than any other bike. I'm curious to see how much it's going to smooth out as it breaks in and I get more familiar with it.

Mileage has been a very pleasant surprise. My calculation on the first tank showed 41.5mpg, and I haven't checked since. The on board computer is showing an average of 44mpg for the total mileage. Most of that has been highways or country roads, but a good bit of the highway miles were at 75mph.

I love having cruise control again, although this one is not very sophisticated. You engage it by pushing the "start" button at any speed above 40mph. It turns off with any actuation of brake or clutch levers or by pushing the start button again. There are no "resume" or +/- functions. It's either engaged or it isn't, no other options involved. But it does an excellent job of maintaining speed.

Another first on a motorcycle for me, an accurate speedometer. Some of the Harleys I've owned were pretty close much of the time, but this one reads identical to my Zumo GPS at any speed.

The Sargent seat is excellent. I've never had a motorcycle seat that I would call perfect, and this one isn't either, but it's up there with the best I've ever had. No complaints on a 250 mile run.

Congratulations on the bike. I like this bike and wish they were here and that I had the dough, and also like that someone has put something different and a bit radical, but still practical, into production. From afar this reminds me of the Hesketh, not in specs but in concept. Old Heskeths are being advertised for big money and new ones from the resurrected company for even bigger. The price reflects the cost of starting up and manufacturing of a high end product on a small scale.